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Category Archives: Las Vegas Hotels

Park MGM, formerly Monte Carlo, is reportedly going to break new ground when it reopens. Word is Park MGM will be the first completely non-smoking casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

Yep, the casino, the hotel and pool. The whole nine.

Boom.

The time for a non-smoking Vegas casino may have finally arrived.

There’s been a lot of buzz about Las Vegas casinos possibly going non-smoking (including a rumor about Planet Hollywood which Caesars Entertainment quickly denied), but popular wisdom has been a non-smoking casino in Vegas is doomed.

We beg to differ.

Park MGM is the perfect casino resort to take the smoking ban leap.

While the timing is related to the COVID-19 crisis, a smoking ban is going to be a huge market differentiator for Park MGM. That marketing hook is needed more than ever, especially because the hotel has not met expectations since the Monte Carlo rebrand. Ditto the resorts hotel-within-a-hotel, NoMad.

The goal for Park MGM has always been to appeal to younger customers (or any customers, really). The “bold” move to ban smoking is certain to be a draw for customers who may never have been to Park MGM, or Monte Carlo for that matter.

It seems likely the smoking ban at Park MGM will be presented as “temporary,” but if it results in pulling in new customers, it may end up being the beginning of a trend for Las Vegas casinos, despite the vocal opposition to such a cultural and business shift.

Interestingly, former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren may have tipped the company’s hand about a smoke-free Vegas casino, without ever mentioning a specific resort.

In an interview with Fox 5 Las Vegas, Murren said he believed over time Las Vegas casinos will “gravitate” toward being smoke-free.

Another breadcrumb MGM Resorts would make this move? A survey sent to loyalty club members specifically asked if enforcing non-smoking policies would increase their chances of returning sooner. Somebody, apparently, answered “yes.” See more from the MGM Resorts survey.

The survey question that launched a thousand blog comments.

We’ve hear there are a lot of MGM Resorts executives who are very nervous about this decision, and if the rumor pans out, we look forward to seeing how this surprising twist unfolds.

The best players at Park MGM are already being contacted by their casino hosts to make sure they’re cool with the smoking ban.

There’s been no official announcement from Park MGM about the rumored smoking ban or a reopening date. We’ve heard July 1, so let’s go with that.

All the casinos along Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas have confirmed they’ll open on June 4, 2020.

That sound you hear is this blog becoming fully engorged.

Let’s Fremont again.

The casinos along Fremont Street are The D, Golden Gate, Plaza, Golden Nugget, Fremont, Binion’s and Four Queens.

Just-off-Fremont Downtown Grand and The Cal will also open on June 4.

In the case of some casinos, not all dining options or other amenities will be available upon reopening. The casinos and bars are really the important things, anyway.

As for the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall, officials say they’ll be open on June 3 at 9:00 a.m.

Fun fact: Virtually no one has ever gotten up early enough to see Fremont Street Experience at 9:00 a.m. If they have, they’re doing Vegas wrong.

There’s a light at the end of the sad.

At the moment, the newly-renovated Viva Vision video screen, is playing a countdown to the reopening of casinos downtown and on The Strip. Specifically, June 4 at 12:01 a.m.

While the Fremont Street Experience mall opens June 3, it will do so without its signature live bands. Announcement of the venue’s free summer concert series was derailed by the COVID-19 crisis, and there’s been no word as to whether any of the planned concerts will happen this year.

In related news, the SlotZilla zipline will reopen on June 4 at 4:00 p.m.

Time flies when you’re in lockdown. Welcome back, SlotZilla.

Demand is expected to be strong downtown (including ours) upon reopening. The buzz is hotels both downtown and on The Strip are receiving unexpected levels of room bookings, despite the fact hotels and casinos are currently limited to 50% occupancy.

Downtown Las Vegas is much less reliant on conventions and Asian visitors than The Strip, so it’s expected downtown could recover more quickly than other destinations.

We are personally going to leave our stimulus money in a variety of slot machines and bars along Fremont the minute they reopen. You know, to support Las Vegas. We’re selfless like that.

Derek Stevens, owner of The D, Golden Gate and the under-construction Circa Las Vegas, gave away 2,000 flights to Las Vegas to help kick-start visitation and support airline travel following the COVID-19 shutdown.

Las Vegas casinos have been closed since March 18, but many will reopen on June 4, 2020.

Stevens initially offered up 1,000 free flights on May 27, 2020, but those were snatched up within a couple of hours. Another 1,000 flights were made available later in the day. Travelers grabbed those almost immediately as well.

Derek Stevens just sort of gets it.

Derek Stevens made it clear those who took advantage of the free flights did not have to stay at his Las Vegas casinos, although many booked rooms at The D and Golden Gate.

Reservation lines were overwhelmed, and many folks on the company’s player development team (VIP hosts) took to the phones to assist reservations staff. They still couldn’t keep up with the demand.

Demand, of course, has been a big question of late. Casinos across the country have seen record revenue since they’ve reopening, but some have questioned how quickly Las Vegas visitation will recover, or if it will at all.

Given our own level of pent up demand, we suspect Vegas will see a healthy level of visitation right out of the gate. Hotels, casinos and restaurants will be limited to 50% capacity, however.

Here’s one last look at an empty Longbar at The D. Let’s hope we never see this again.

Resorts World is looking more and more like a proper Las Vegas resort, so we stopped by to check out the progress.

Boom.

We like to think “boom” makes things more dramatic. Play along.

In case that wasn’t dramatic enough, take a look at our photo from August 2016.

Modesty precludes us from reminding you how “essential” we are, probably.

Resorts World, owned by Malaysia-based Genting Group, is a new casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip slated to open in summer 2021. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear that timeline has been slowed by the COVID-19 shutdown.

It’s really important Las Vegas have something to look forward to right now.

The hotel tower was topped off in August 2019, and construction now extends nearly to Las Vegas Boulevard. It’s mostly shopping, but who cares? Exciting!

The Resorts World hotel tower was built on the bones of Echelon Place, probably farther from the sidewalk than the current owners would’ve preferred. We play the hand we’re dealt.

Resorts World is 59 stories tall and will have about 3,400 rooms. The resort is expected to cost about $4.3 billion.

Resorts World was originally going to have an Asian theme, but that was nixed, along with any hopes of live pandas.

Here’s a look at the most recent rendering of Resorts World Las Vegas.

Resorts World has already started testing the lights on its west tower.

Look closely, and you can see how some of the features in the renderings are being brought to life.

Just take our money. We’re ready to party.

Dropping the Asian theme was one of many changes at Resorts World since the project was first announced back in 1865.

Here’s a look at one of the original renderings, where Resorts World was going to have seven hotel towers. The only constant in Vegas is change.

The original vision for Resorts World was a tad extra.

Resorts World recently released new renderings of some of its interiors, including for bars and some of its meeting areas.

Asian theme out, whimsy in.

What a wild ride it’s been for Resorts World, with multiple delays (most intentional) and numerous staffing changes.

The latest buzz (ours, to be specific) is Resorts World is shaping up to make a splash when it opens in 2021, and we love us some Las Vegas newness.

Word is the resort is sparing no expense in its design and construction, and we’ve also heard a serious investment is being made in wrangling world-class entertainment.

A number of potential headliners have been in the mix, including the first lady of residencies, Celine Dion. We’re actually the only one that’s floated that rumor, but Resorts World hasn’t denied it, so we’ll take it.

Dem views, tho.

Check out our vast and poorly-focused photo gallery for more of the latest from Resorts World. It many have taken a pandemic for us to fully appreciate the splendor of Resorts World, but we’re a bigtime cheerleader at the moment.

Absolutely nothing can compare to that new casino smell.

Update (5/28/20): Resorts World is installing and testing its video screen.

Resorts World is apparently using Windows 95. We kid. It’s going to be awesome.

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